


First Date

by FriendLey



Series: John/Maureen [2]
Category: Lost in Space (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, First Date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29897613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendLey/pseuds/FriendLey
Summary: John and Maureen's first date.
Relationships: John Robinson/Maureen Robinson
Series: John/Maureen [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198154
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	First Date

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel to 211.

John Robinson picked up on the third ring. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Do you remember the first time we met, when you mistook me for your friend’s wife?”

“How could I forget? You never let me live that down.”

“So, do you remember when you said you’ll do anything to make it up to me?”

It was approximately six months since John and Maureen met. Maureen hadn’t expected to ever see John again but a week later, she ran into him in the grocery store while she was in line at the cashier.

He asked after Judy, bought her a soda, and they have been friends ever since.

“Are you finally calling in that favor?” he said in a knowing tone.

“Please?”

“Alright, what do you need?” That was what Maureen loved about John. He was spontaneous and flexible, not to mention the fact that he adored Judy like she was the niece he never had.

“I need a babysitter.”

There was a moment of silence as John thought her words over. “Do you mean you need me to call a babysitter or do you need me to _be_ the babysitter?”

“The latter. My usual babysitter can’t make it. She got a cold and I’ve got this _blind date_.” She said the word like it was a foreign one, which for all intents and purposes it was.

Maureen hadn’t been on a date in a long time. Between her husband dying, Judy, and work, she’s barely had the time to even think about serious relationships. The only reason Maureen was even going on this blind date was to placate her mother who had set it up for her.

She would rather just spend her Friday night out with Judy instead.

(And if John happened to be there, Maureen wouldn’t mind one bit.)

“Sure, I’ll do it! Judy and I go way back, you know.”

“Thank you, John. Can you be here at 6?”

“No problem. See you later, Kelly.”

…

John knew he was staring at Maureen.

It wasn’t something that could be helped.

The first time they met Maureen she was in a hospital gown with her hair tied up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face. She looked tired but happy.

The second time, she was carrying Judy in a carrier and there was spit on Maureen’s blouse.

And succeeding times after that, she was always dressed casually with enough makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes which sort of came with having a newborn.

Suffice it to say that this was the first time John saw Maureen really _dressed up._ She was barefoot but had on a fancy black dress with her hair let down. She had on eye shadow, lipstick, and blush on her cheeks—or maybe that was Maureen actually blushing because John was still staring.

“Well? Say something!” Maureen urged.

John had always known Maureen was attractive—even with spit and dribble on her clothes. He would be lying if he said he didn’t secretly harbor a crush on her, but that had always been pushed down in favor of her friendship. But seeing her like _this_ made it harder to do so.

“You look beautiful, Maureen,” John said honestly and this time he saw Maureen’s cheeks turn a little bit redder. “Your date’s not gonna know what hit him.” Too bad she was going on a date with someone else.

Maureen tilted her head slightly and cocked her hip. “You think I dressed up for him? I did this for _me._ I don’t want to go on this date but it’s been a while since I’ve been out on one. I figured I should at least use the opportunity to dress up.”

“An even better reason,” John said before tearing his eyes away from her (with much difficulty) and walked further in the apartment, looking around. “So, where’s my favorite baby?”

“She’s in the nursery. Make yourself at home. I’ll just go put my shoes on."

John had been in Maureen’s place before and knew where Judy’s room was. He walked in to find the baby laying on her stomach and trying to crawl around in her crib.

“Look at you, Jude!” he cried, reaching down to pick her up. “You’re crawling and your mom’s dating. Pretty soon, you’ll be a teenager and learning how to drive a car.”

“Not that soon, I hope,” said Maureen, walking in the room. She had her heels on this time and John had to tell himself that it wasn’t polite to stare at her legs. She also her jewelry on and was clutching a purse.

“So, our reservation is for 6:30 and I should get a head start if I don’t want to be late.” Maureen huffed. “I don’t want to give my mother any reasons to think I tried to sabotage this entire thing.”

John hitched Judy higher and waved the girl’s hand to gesture goodbye to Maureen. “Bye, mommy! Have fun!”

Maureen’s expression softened. She blew a kiss in their direction. “Bye bye.” To John she said, “I’ve got milk in the fridge in case she gets hungry. There are instructions on the counter on how to heat it up. And if ever _you_ get hungry, feel free to raid the fridge.”

John shook his head at her and with a hand on her shoulder, turned her around and nudged her out the room. “Yes, yes, we’ll be fine.” He opened the front door for Maureen with one hand. “Go enjoy your blind date, and Judy and I will enjoy our play date.”

Maureen sent him a grateful smile and then cupped her baby’s cheek and kissed the top of her head. “Bye, baby. Bye, John!”

“Now, don’t stay out too late, young lady!” John called out to her teasingly. Maureen’s laughter echoed in the hall.

…

John had just put Judy down when he heard the front door open.

He frowned. It was only 7 PM. How was Maureen back already?

He quickly walked out to meet her in the living room.

“I know I said don’t stay out too late but I didn’t really mean it,” he stated, watching as Maureen tossed her purse on the sofa and then pull her heels off.

“I got stood up,” Maureen explained. “I waited thirty minutes before I realized that he probably wasn’t gonna show.”

John stared at her like what she said didn’t make sense. Because it didn’t. How could anybody even stand her up!

“Did you call him?” he asked, trying to keep his tone level and not reveal his frustration and annoyance with her date.

Maureen nodded. “Straight to voice mail.” She shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. I’m kind of relieved actually. I didn’t want to go on the date in the first place and I’m glad I don’t have to, anymore.” She glanced at the nursery. “Judy okay?”

“Yeah, she’s sleeping,” said John and then moved to touch Maureen on the shoulder comfortingly. “I’m sorry about tonight.”

“You weren’t the one who stood me up.”

“I know, but you dressed up.”

“And now I can dress down again.”

She walked towards her bedroom and John blurted out, “Wait! Don’t you dare take that dress off.”

Maureen eyed him. “Why?”

“I can’t let you end this evening on a low note.” John looked glanced back at the kitchen and then at her, an idea forming. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

Maureen shook her head.

“Neither have I. Good thing I waited to do it until Judy went down.” John took her hand and pulled her to the kitchen to sit at the dining table. “Sit while I cook you something.”

She protested, attempting to get up from the chair John deposited her into. “John, you don’t have to—”

“But I want to. That blind date didn’t know what he was missing. And I don’t want you to go to bed hungry. Besides, I don’t want to eat dinner alone.”

Maureen admitted with a sheepish smile. “I _am_ a little hungry.”

“Maureen, do you trust me?”

“Of course, I do. You’re babysitting my kid.”

“Then, give me a few minutes. I’ll cook something, put some music on. You won’t even remember you got stood up.”

“I’ll agree to this but only if I help you cook.”

“Fine.”

…

Music was playing in the background and both Maureen and John were busy in the kitchen.

Maureen laughed when she saw a reflection of herself on the fridge. She looked ridiculous wearing a fancy dress with an apron over it.

“What?” John asked.

“I have an apron on top of my dress.”

“That’s called armor,” John told her before turning to the sink to wash his hands.

“I didn’t know you likened cooking to a battle,” Maureen said, amused.

“Clearly you’ve never been attacked by onion tear gas or bloody squirts of rogue tomato juice.”

Maureen laughed again, her cheeks aching slightly because of it. John had always been able to do that—make her laugh until she had tears leaking out of her eyes and her jaw ached from smiling. It’s one of the reasons she always loved spending time with him, kept him around Judy and herself on a regular basis.

“Touché. I’ll do the salad then, you’re on pasta sauce duty, soldier.”

They worked comfortably, the music providing the sounds they needed in the background, John occasionally humming to himself while Maureen washed lettuce and chopped fruits. At one point, John had caught Maureen trying to blow strands of hair out of her face while she worked, which made him offer to tie her hair up. Despite the fact that he stood at an appropriate distance from her while he did so, Maureen was hyperaware of his proximity, of his hands in her hair, occasionally grazing the skin of her neck.

“Thanks,” she whispered when he finished, and she went back to her preparing the salad and trying to ignore the way John made her feel.

Should be easy enough, she thought, she’s been trying to ignore her attraction to him for months now. The only reason she hadn’t made a move was because she was pretty sure John only saw her as a friend. But here he was, pretending to be her date and making her fall in love him even more. 

While the pasta noodles boiled, John asked her to dance just in time for the playlist to play “Some People Call Me A Space Cowboy.”

They both laughed at the song choice but danced to it anyway and Maureen was glad for the excuse to be near him again.

“You know, this was one of the reasons I agreed to even go on that blind date,” Maureen said, while John twirled her slowly around. At John’s furrowed brow, she explained, “I reserved a table at Remy’s." Remy’s was known for its in-house band and dance floor. “It’s been a while since I went dancing, so I thought I might as well have the date at Remy’s even if it meant dancing with a complete stranger. But _this,_ dancing with you…” she didn’t dare look away as she said the next words, “ _way_ better than dancing with Mr. No Show.”

John returned her gaze with equal measure and it sent shivers down Maureen’s spine. Was it only Maureen’s imagination or was John’s hand on her back pushing her closer against him?

John opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the alarm he set to alert him for when the noodles would be cooked.

“You hungry?” he asked her instead, walking over to the stove.

“Starving,” Maureen said, following John with her eyes.

(She wasn’t talking about the food.)

…

Later when they were done with their dinner, John said, “I kind of feel a little underdressed sitting across from you.”

“You’re the one who insisted I don’t change into something more casual,” Maureen replied, sending him an I-told-you-so look.

“I know, I know! But you spent time to look like this and I didn’t want it all to go to waste. Besides, I created this date for you; it wouldn’t be the same if you changed out of the dress.”

Maureen momentarily abandoned her food to process what it was John had just said.

“Oh, so this is a date?” she asked, careful to keep her voice casual and not betray the fact that John’s words had caused her to start reassessing what she thought he thought of her.

“It’s the date you deserved tonight,” John told her honestly and Maureen knew he wasn’t doing this for her out of pity.

John was doing this because he was the sort of man who cared enough to go out of his way to turn Maureen’s evening around, just like that time he agreed to visit his friend’s wife in the hospital to deliver a letter from the latter’s husband.

“As far as dates go, it wasn’t bad,” Maureen said, getting up to bring her plate to the sink. John followed close behind her.

“Wasn’t bad? We had good food, a good time. There was music and dancing! I’m the best date ever.”

Maureen was pretty sure that even if her date _had_ showed up, she wouldn’t have had half the fun she had with John tonight.

Watching John hum to himself as he rinsed the dishes, Maureen decided to throw caution to the wind. “Except you forgot something important.”

John looked around, like he was searching for said forgotten thing.

Maureen closed the distance between them and John stood still, hands still on the dishes as he realized what it was that she meant he had overlooked. Without her heels on, she had to tilt her chin up and her eyes darted down to his lips, letting him know exactly what it was that was missing and what she was going to do.

She took her time, giving him the opportunity to refuse her advances if he wanted to. 

John’s own eyes flicked down to Maureen’s mouth and that was all the encouragement Maureen needed.

“Show me,” John whispered.

Maureen rose up slightly on her toes and with one hand on his bicep and another on the kitchen counter, she pressed her lips against his. The kiss was soft and chaste, letting them both know what they could be together if they ever bothered to try.

Maureen pulled back slowly while John abandoned the dishes in the sink and with wet hands, caressed Maureen's cheek. He kissed her forehead.

Maureen closed her eyes at the contact, her hands falling to rest on John’s waist.

“There's no going back to back to the way things used to be," said John. 

“No,” Maureen agreed, opening her eyes. “It’s only going to get better.”


End file.
